Cedar strip canoe

I started this late in 2014 and finished around the summer of 2015. Had I known about lumberjocks back then, I may have blogged the build to chronicle the progress and the obstacles I encountered and how I worked around them, and the some of the tricks I came up with to make it go a little easier, if not for anyone else building a boat, than for myself. Someday I may wanna build another one, or I may look back and remember all the frustration and anxiety I experienced and decide not to do it again. It all started the summer of 2014 when I was talking to my foreman about buying a canoe so my girlfriend and I could go on the river together, because all I had was a single person kayak. He said something along the lines of “why don’t you just build one?” It couldn’t be that hard.” Little did I know that it would take me 9 months to build. Had I taken a week off work and really hit it hard, I could have gotten it done much faster, but I just worked on it when I wasn’t at one of my 2 jobs or spending time with my girlfriend. Anyway, I looked at an Instructables build of one (which turned out really downplay the detail of the build), and came to the same conclusion as my foreman. Then I bought the cedar strip canoe book, I forget the name, and gave that a read, and ordered plans. Luckily I had access to the cabinet shop I work at, otherwise I don’t know how I would have milled the 20 foot material in my garage. After setting up the forms, I started wrapping them with strips. It was a slow pace for me, just because I only had small blocks of time to do it. At some point (I forget where) I stopped on one side and finished out the other.Then marked my center line and instead of trying to hit that line perfectly with a chisel all the way down, I took a circular saw with a veneer blade and set the blade just past the cedar strips and cut it that way. Carefully guiding it along made a perfectly straight centerline. After that, it was a matter of just closing in the hole.

After that was when the fun part started: all the shaping and sanding. It was quite an experience to watch it go from a rough, glue-splooged mess into a sleek canoe.

I used west systems epoxy and fiberglass cloth, as per the recommendations of the book, then I was able to flip it and start working on the inside. Shaping the inside was a little tougher, but it just took some patience.

I used ash for the gunwhales And lots of clamps.

Anyway, before I shut down lumberjocks with this post, I’ll finish with this: If you want to build a boat, but you have any reservations about doing it, just go for it. I’m no master craftsman, and I built one in a single car garage. It was a really fun and exciting build, and now I have a functional boat to take out on the water. It floats and tracks straight, and paddling by myself (my girlfriend doesn’t help much) I can get it going at a decent speed. Even if I can’t catch the fish like my girlfriend can.

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to ask. I wish I had known about this site back then because I’m sure I could have found some advise with this build

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25 comments so far

Kennethjg, Awesome canoe! I may be wrong but that looks a lot like a build from “Canoecraft”. The mix of shades of the wood looks great. I don’t think it matters sometimes what may have come up for problems, canoe building can be somewhat addicting. I know what you mean about fairing the hull, it is fun to watch it come to shape. I can’t tell from the pics, did you make the paddles too? I did a blog on one a while back, it’s a lot of work for sure. Fantastic job, thanks for sharing.

Canoecraft! That’s the one. I didn’t make the paddles, I was done with the canoe, and in such a hurry to get it on the water that I went and bought some. Someday I’ll make a few.I wanted to have a more consistent look for the colors, but I didn’t get to pick the lumber. I don’t have a truck or trailer, so I just ordered the 20’ material and had it delivered to the cabinet shop, so I got what I got, and just went with it.